On the heels of successful Dads and Sibs weekends earlier this quarter, Ohio University is extending a special invitation for parents this Friday through Sunday.

"We always look forward to welcoming the families of our students for these special weekends," Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Campus Life Anne Lombard said. "This is an opportunity for us to share our campus with those families and share a little bit of the student experience with them."

University Program Council will welcome parents with BreakFEST '08, its first annual all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet in the Baker Center Ballroom.

"We've never done a program like this before. We thought Winter Parents Weekend would be a great chance to try something new, something interactive, where parents can really spend time with their students," UPC President Liz Vaccaro said. "Winter Parents Weekend also tends to be a little quieter, so we wanted to try something that would also appeal to students who didn't have a parent in town."

The event will feature a prize raffle, a disc jockey and a special appearance by Bobcat mascot Rufus. Doors are open from 9 a.m. to noon, and tickets are $5 for students and $7 for parents.

Parents also are invited to join in at regularly scheduled activities such as a taping of "Fridays Live" at the RTV Building, the weekly Poker Night hosted at Baker University Center and the Midnight Movies series, which will feature the family-friendly and seasonally appropriate "Glory Road," portraying the 1966 NCAA Championship season of Texas Western, one of the country's first racially integrated teams.

The Bobcat men's and women's basketball teams will host a double-header on Saturday at the Convo, while the men's ice hockey team will host Central Oklahoma on both Friday and Saturday night.

Ongoing exhibitions will be highlighted at all of the university's art galleries, while dance, theater and operatic performances are also scheduled.

For the complete list of events for the weekend along with information on hours and admission fees, visit www.ohio.edu/familyweekends.